Well Gryphon and Audionet are two pretty different presentations.Ghyphon is very organic, meaty, physical bass, beautiful deph and yet detailed and fast.Audionet is very high detail retrieval, very low noise floor, huge soundtage, ultra fast and very natural.Both are awsome, not an easy decision.
Top notch integrated vs DAC direct into stereo amp
I'm still asking myself if a top notch integrated amp like the Audionet Humbold + separate DAC would do just as good as a DAC direct into a stereo amp for example Totaldac d1-Direct going into Gryphon Antileon Evo or D'Agostino Momentum S250.I know this has been discussed many times especially preamp vs no preamp but what about top level integrated vs DAC direct into amp.An ultimate integrated amp would cost about the same as a great stereo amp therefore the question can be raised.Cheers.
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Well Gryphon and Audionet are two pretty different presentations.Ghyphon is very organic, meaty, physical bass, beautiful deph and yet detailed and fast.Audionet is very high detail retrieval, very low noise floor, huge soundtage, ultra fast and very natural.Both are awsome, not an easy decision.Those explanations are far removed from the prefect preamp. Save your money. Now try direct in this a/b/c and hear which is the most transparent/dynamic and uncolored. The Totaldac is what my reviewer/editor friend has, with the Wilson Alexia MkII and the Gryphon Antillion Evo, of all the ways we tried direct was the best by far, followed by a passive pre, even against his top of the line Supratek preamp. https://www.soundstageaustralia.com/index.php/reviews/84-wilson-audio-specialties-alexia-series-2-loudspeakers Cheers George |
@thieliste -- Poster @douglas_schroeder is certainly right about you being the only one who can make the call, and that either option (DAC/preamp-poweramp vs. DAC-preamp-poweramp) could appeal to you the most. That being the case though I’d go the distance to let simplicity have its day, and invest the money in a great DAC with a quality analogue output stage and PSU - as well as dedicated build-in preamp section and volume control, and then go skip the (thought of a) separate hardware preamp altogether, definitely if your source is digital only. It’s going to save you money (not least in light of the fact that, as I see it, for a separate preamp to be sufficiently transparent it’s going to be seriously expensive), and I’d even recommend you find a well-kept, used reference DAC/preamp and save yourself some further dough. Some may find that buying the latest of the latest DAC tech is paramount, but that’s bull, I find. A great DAC/preamp build/developed 5 years ago (or more) is a great DAC/preamp today, and bought used would most likely exceed the performance of a new (and, for arguments sake) similarly priced mid-level, wet paint DAC unit of today. I'd even claim that reference level today vs. 5+ years ago with DAC's is dueling in subtleties. What’s particularly important here is the care that has been invested in the output stage, PSU and volume control section - not only because of its intended use directly into the poweramp - and mid-level, even today, has to cut corners somewhere, and mentioned areas are usually where they’re doing exactly that. Moreover, a quality piece of hardware lasts a long(er) time. Just my $0.02.. |
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